Going to daylight saving time this weekend could be especially hard because of pandemic-related sleep loss

"The clock springs forward one hour on Sunday morning, March 14 for most people in the U.S. That is not an appealing thought for those who have suffered sleep problems because of the pandemic," Michael Jaffee writes for The Conversation. "Sleep this past year has been affected by a variety of factors, including anxiety, inconsistent schedules and increased screen time. This affects our health, as getting adequate sleep is important to assure our immune system can fend off and fight infections. Even before the pandemic, about 40% of adults – 50 to 70 million Americans – got less than the recommended minimum seven hours per night."

Scientists are increasingly concerned about how the twice-yearly time change affects people's bodies. "The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the largest scientific organization that studies sleep, in October 2020 suggested nixing daylight saving time and moving to a year-round fixed time," Jaffee reports. "That way, our internal circadian clocks would not be misaligned for half the year. And it would eliminate the safety risk from sleep loss when transitioning to daylight saving time."

Jaffee, the vice chair of neurology ay the University of Florida, has studied how the lack of sleep can impair the brain, and believes we have cause for concern: "In the 1940s, most American adults averaged 7.9 hours of sleep a night. Today, it’s only 6.9 hours. To put it another way: In 1942, 84% of us got the recommended seven to nine hours; in 2013, it was 59%. To break it down further, a January 2018 study from Fitbit reported that men got even less sleep per night than women, about 6.5 hours."

Lack of adequate sleep can cause more problems than being tired, Jaffee reports. It's associated with higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, depression, and lowered memory retention, attentiveness, and ability to fight off infections.

"States advocating for permanent daylight saving time are typically those that rely on tourism," Jaffee reports. "Environmentalists, favoring less energy consumption from morning heating and evening air conditioning, often support permanent standard time. Religious groups, whose prayer times are linked to sundown and sunrise, also tend to prefer permanent standard time. So do many educators, opposed to transporting children to school during mornings when it’s still dark."